Lamplighter_MarApr15_Dispersion-Jews

ook, he repeatedly introduces each of his strange interpretations
by proclaiming that “many” or “numerous” prophecy scholars
agree with him!
The Third Trumpet
Carl begins his book by focusing on the third Trumpet Judgment
because he says this was the first one that he realized had
already been fulfilled in our day and time (chapter 15). It is the
judgment recorded in Revelation 8:10-11. It reads as follows:
10) The third angel sounded, and a great star
fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it
fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs
of waters.
11) The name of the star is called Wormwood;
and a third of the waters became wormwood,
and many men died from the waters, because
they were made bitter.
Carl argues that this prophecy was fulfilled in the explosion
of the Russian nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine on April
26, 1986 (chapter 15). His basic reason for making the connection
between this event and the prophecy is his claim that Chernobyl
means wormwood in the Ukranian language (chapter 16).
Chernobyl Devastation
Actually, Chernobyl is the Ukranian word for the herb which
in English is called mugwort. The Ukranian word for wormwood
is polyn. But even if Chernobyl meant wormwood, the prophecy
would not be fulfilled by the Chernobyl explosion.
To make the rest of the prophecy fit the event, Carl engages
in some fanciful spiritualizations of Scripture. He explains away
the reference to a star falling from heaven as a First Century
man’s primitive explanation of a nuclear explosion (chapter 18).
To do this, Carl starts redefining words, a technique he uses
throughout his book. So, according to Carl, the word, star,
doesn’t really mean star — it is just something that looked like
a star (pp. 124ff). And heaven doesn’t really mean heaven, it is
just a reference to the sky. Also, the idea that a star falls from
heaven is just a reference to debris from a nuclear explosion
falling back to the ground (p. 126).
Further, Carl asserts that the statement that this event will
result in one-third of the waters of the world being polluted must
be interpreted as meaning simply “a calamity on a monumental
scale” (pp. 116ff). That’s a very convenient interpretation, but it
is not what the prophecy says.
Now, having come to the conclusion that the Chernobyl
explosion was a fulfillment of the third Trumpet Judgment, Carl
concludes that the first and second Trumpet Judgments must also
have already occurred and must have done so before 1986.
The Second Trumpet
The second Trumpet Judgment, found in Revelation 8:8-9,
reads as follows:
8) The second angel sounded, and something
like a great mountain burning with fire was
thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea
became blood,
9) and a third of the creatures which were in
the sea and had life, died; and a third of the
ships were destroyed.
To give a contemporary interpretation to this prophecy, the
first thing Carl does is to explain away the reference to the sea by
saying, “Obviously, the sea in these verses is not a literal ocean
of water but rather a vast expanse” (p. 129). “Obviously”?
Really? Obvious to whom?
He then resorts to the redefinition of words, claiming that
“thrown” should really be translated “arise” (p. 131).
Now, having changed the meaning of the prophecy, he
proceeds to proclaim that it was fulfilled in 1945 with the atomic
bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since
Japan is an island nation, from a distance, the explosions must
have looked like “a mountain of fire” rising from the sea (p.
131).
And, oh yes, the reference to
one-third of the sea being affected
is also explained away in a most
peculiar way. It refers to either onethird
of the population of Japan
being killed in the explosions (including
those who died over a five
year period of time from radiation
poisoning), or it refers to one-third
of those involved in World War II
being killed (pp. 132-133). But
these particular verses do not speak
of one-third of any group being
Carl Gallups
killed. They talk about one-third of
the sea becoming blood. And Carl never bothers to explain away
the reference to the sea turning to blood.
The First Trumpet
This brings us to the first Trumpet Judgment. It is recorded
in Revelation 8, verse 7:
The first [trumpet] sounded, and there came
hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were
thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth
was burned up, and a third of the trees were
burned up, and all the green grass was burned
up.
Carl proposes two possible modern day fulfillments of this
prophecy. The first would be the “scorched earth” policy followed
by the Russians in the defeat of the Nazi invasion of their
March - April 2015 The Lamplighter page 11